A warning to users of council pay and display carparks in Penrith and the local area has been issued by Westmorland and Furness Council urging users of the car parks to be vigilant when paying as scammers have been caught by the councils Civil Enforcement Officers at Sandgate Car Park, Penrith.
Scammers have been targeting drivers across the country with fake websites, QR codes and SMS messages designed to mimic official online payment services offered in car parks locally and across the UK.
This national scamming issue has now arrived in Cumbria, with an estimated twenty people falling victim last year by the online website scam in the local area.
To help tackle the issue, Westmorland and Furness Council have stopped using QR codes on any of its council-owned car parks across the district, The council has said “if you find one, it’s a SCAM.”
The council added “Our parking officers are always checking signage on their visits and will remove tampered signage as pictured, hopefully before anyone gets caught.”
The QR code attached to parking machines in Penrith over the last week directed users to a website that appeared to be a legitimate online parking payment website asking for the location and vehicle registration before directing users to enter payment details.
In recent months councils around the UK have reported that fake QR codes have been stuck on their parking signs as part of termed “quishing” scams.
The QR codes lead drivers to a fraudulent website where, instead of paying for their parking, the driver actually shares their payment details and information with scammers.
The RAC said: “Unfortunately, the increasing popularity and ease of using QR codes appears to have made drivers more vulnerable to malicious scammers. For some, this sadly means a Quick Response code could in fact be a ‘quick route’ to losing money.”
“As if this quishing scam isn’t nasty enough, it can also lead to drivers being caught out twice if they don’t realise they haven’t paid for parking and end up getting a hefty fine from the council.”
If something doesn’t feel right contact the Councils Highways Hotline on 0300 373 3306.
If it’s too late and you have been caught out by the scam, immediately contact your bank and report it to the Action Fraud’s national helpline on 0300 123 2040.